1. Bilateral trade between India, China crosses 125 billion USD in 2021
Tags: Economics/Business
According to the official data released by the Chinese customs, the India-China bilateral trade touched a record high of over USD 125 billion in 2021, up 43.3% from 2020 when bilateral trade was worth 87.6 billion USD.
Highlights of the Trade Data
- In 2021, China’s exports to India were 97.52 billion USD, up 46.2%, while China imported 28.14 billion USD worth of goods from India, up 34.2%.
- The trade deficit between the two countries remained in favour of China – at $69 billion.
- Trade between China and the US soared by 28.7% and amounted to $755.6 billion in 2021 - maintaining a strong growth momentum and contributing 12% to China’s record $6 trillion foreign trade for the year.
- The US maintained its place as China’s third-largest trade partner following ASEAN and the European Union.
- India was China’s 15th largest trade partner in 2021.
2. Mini Ratna-I status for Braithwaite & Co
Tags: Economics/Business
The Union Ministry of Railways has granted Miniratna -1 category status to Braithwaite & Co as the engineering firm made a turnaround with a manifold increase in annual turnover and making profits for three consecutive years.
- The Kolkata based Public sector undertaking is under the administrative control of the Union Railway Ministry .
- The status of Miniratna status will give the company greater financial and operational efficiency.
Miniratna
In 1997 the Government of India introduced the concept of Miniratna to grant greater financial and operational autonomy to Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE ) .
These companies, called Miniratnas, are in two categories, namely, Category- I and Category-II.
Eligibility Criteria
- Category-I CPSEs should have made profit in the last three years continuously, the pre-tax profit should have been Rs 30 crore or more in at least one of the three years and should have a positive net worth.
- Category-II CPSEs should have made profit for the last three years continuously and should have a positive net worth.
Benefits of being a Miniratna Company
Capital Expenditure
For CPSEs in category I: The power to incur capital expenditure on new projects, modernization, purchase of equipment, etc., without Government approval is Rs. 500 crore or equal to Net worth, whichever is less.
For Category II it is Rs 250 crore or equal to Net worth,whichever is less.
Joint ventures and subsidiaries:
For category 1 :: The ceiling on equity investment to establish joint ventures and subsidiaries in India shall be 15% of the networth of the PSE limited to Rs. 500 crore,without government approval.
For category 11 :The ceiling on equity investment to establish joint ventures and subsidiaries in India shall be 15% of the networth of the PSE in one project limited to Rs. 250 crore,without government approval.
3. IRFC becomes first CPSE to list Green Offshore Bonds at Indian stock exchanges
Tags: Economics/Business
Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC) has become the first Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) to exclusively list its Green Offshore Bonds at Indian stock exchanges.
- The bond was listed at India International Exchange established in the GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat .
- IRFC raised $500 million and the duration of the bond was 10 years.
Green bonds
It is a type of debt instrument issued by a company to fund projects which have positive climate or environmental projects .
For example it will be used to provide loans to set up solar projects which are environmentally friendly and not to fund coal based power plants which harm the environment .
Off-Shore Bonds
Bonds which are issued by a company outside its country . For example IRFC is an Indian company but it raised $500 million by issuing bonds outside India . Hence it was an off-shore bond issue.
CPSE
Central Public Sector Enterprises are those companies in which the direct holding of the Central Government or other CPSEs owned by the Central Government is 51% or more.
4. The UN expect Indian economy to grow by 6.5% in 2022
Tags: Economics/Business
The United Nation World Economic Situation and Prospect (WESP) 2022 report said that India's GDP is forecast to grow at 6.5 per cent in fiscal year 2022, a contraction from the estimated growth of 8.4 per cent in fiscal year 2021.
- It expect the growth to further slow down to 5.9 per cent in the financial year 2023,
- The report said that the global economic recovery is facing significant challenges amid new waves of COVID-19 infections, persistent labour market challenges, lingering supply-chain challenges and rising inflationary pressures.
- After expanding by 5.5 percent in 2021, the global economic growth is projected to grow by only 4.0 percent in 2022 and 3.5 percent in 2023.
5. India provides $900 million loan to Sri Lanka
Tags: Economics/Business
India has announced a $900 million loan to Sri Lanka to build up its depleted foreign reserves and for food imports, amidst a shortage of almost all essential commodities in the island nation. The assistance has been provided by the RBI to Sri Lanka.
- The loan comprises deferment of Asian Clearing Union settlement of over $509 million and currency swap of $400 million.
- The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ajith Nivard Cabraal has said that the loan amount will be used by Sri Lanka to import foods.
- Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a shortage of almost all essentials due to a shortage of dollars to pay for the imports.
6. SBI issue Formosa Bonds
Tags: Economics/Business
SBI became the first Indian bank to issue Formosa bonds and it has raised $300 million.
- The bond was sold through the London branch of the SBI.
- The bonds will be listed in Taipei , Singapore stock exchange and also at the India International Exchange at Gift City in Gujarat.
- The bonds are of five year duration and its interest rate has been linked with the US Treasury benchmark.
Formosa Bond
- It is issued by a non Taiwanese company in Taiwan.
- The bond is denominated in currencies other than the Taiwan dollar.
- The currency of Taiwan is Taiwan Dollar.
- The bond is listed on the Taiwan stock exchange.
- Taiwan was earlier called Formosa and Taipei is its capital.
For benchmarking and US Treasury benchmark see the 7 January 2022 post
7. Mega Reliance investment in Gujarat
Tags: Economics/Business
Reliance Industries has signed an agreement with the Gujarat government to invest Rs. 5.95 lakh crore in the state in the next 10 to 15 years.
- The agreement was signed as part of investment promotion activities for the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2022.
- Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) plans to set up 100 GigaWatt (GW) renewable energy power plants and a green hydrogen ecosystem in the state with an investment of Rs. 5 lakh crores.
- It will invest Rs. 60,000 crore in setting up manufacturing facilities for solar Photovoltaic(PV) modules, battery, fuel cells and electrolyzers.
- RIL has set up the world's largest oil refinery complex at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
8. Adani and POSCO to jointly set up a steel plant in Mundra
Tags: Economics/Business
Adani Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the South Korean Steel major Posco to set up an integrated steel plant in Mundra, Gujarat with an investment of $5 billion.
- The Government of India has set a target of 300 million tonnes of crude steel production in India by 2030.
- As of September 2021 ,India was the second largest producer of steel in the world after China ,with an output of 9.5 Million Tonnes.
- Posco is the fourth largest steel company in the world after ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel and BaoSteel of China.
- It has a 1.8 million tonne cold rolled and galvanised steel mill plant in Raigad, Maharashtra .
9. RailTel Plans Edge Data Centers in Rural and Semi-Urban areas
Tags: Economics/Business
RailTel, owned by the Ministry of Railways, has decided to create several “edge data centres” in the rural and semi-urban areas to bridge the digital divide in the country and increase the pace of digital transformation.
Edge data centres are small data centers located at the edge of the network,where they are closer to the end users and devices.
This will enable faster performance and lower latency.
10. Index for Rural India shows upbeat business sentiments in rural areas
Tags: Economics/Business
A recently launched “Rural Business Confidence Index” developed by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) with Credit rating agency CRIF High Mark showed upbeat sentiment in the rural areas.
The Index shows that despite the pandemic, disbursement of retail loans in the rural areas has increased 23% by value to Rs 12.45 lakh crore in 2020-21 as compared to the previous year of Rs 10.10 Lakh crore.
